Methods and systems for workflow automation

Abstract

A workflow automation system that automates business tasks by executing task workflow models. The workflow automation system distributes actions to multiple clients based on roles and permissions to facilitate completion of manual and automated tasks included in the workflow models. The workflow automation system may pre-configure the roles and permissions to reduce the set up time for workflow model implementations of tasks. The workflow automation system improves the speed and efficiency of completing tasks relative to manual methods and other workflow automation tools.

1 . A computer implemented method of automating task workflows for integrating the workflows between a plurality of different applications to improve computational efficiency of managing and executing tasks, the method comprising:
 receiving a workflow model including configuration data and multiple states, the configuration data extracted from a plurality of different applications connected to the workflow model, each of the multiple states being associated with multiple triggers and including multiple actions, and the plurality of different applications comprising one or more in-product applications and one or more remote applications;   automatically detecting at least one of the multiple triggers of at least one of the multiple states of the workflow model based on a plurality of activities that occur in at least a subset of the plurality of different applications;   determining a particular state of the workflow model based on the at least one detected trigger;   distributing a notification according to a set of roles and permissions included in the configuration data, the notification including at least one action from the multiple actions;   receiving a confirmation that the at least one action included in the notification is complete; and   transitioning the workflow model to a new state based on the confirmation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the roles and permissions identify one or more users that are responsible for completing the multiple actions included in each workflow state, the method further comprising:
 configuring the roles and permissions based on a related set of roles and permissions for the one or more users in the application.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration data includes a set of application integrations, the method further comprising:
 connecting the workflow model to an audit application based on the set of application integrations.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 calculating a performance metric for the workflow model that describes a measure of efficiency of performing a task using the workflow model relative to performing the task using an alternate method; and   distributing a report to one or more users through the audit application based on the roles and permissions, the report including the performance metric.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 confirming that the multiple actions in each of the multiple states of the workflow model are complete;   receiving an output generated by the completed multiple actions; and   using the output to complete a business task.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that at least one of the multiple actions of the multiple states of the workflow model is not confirmed as complete;   sending a reminder notification including the incomplete action to a user responsible for completing the incomplete action; and   receiving a confirmation from the user that the incomplete action is completed.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the workflow model is a document workflow model and the multiple actions included in the multiple states of the document workflow model include subtasks for completing a document. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the workflow model is an approval workflow model and the multiple actions included in the multiple states of the approval workflow model include subtasks for approving a decision or completed document. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising distributing the notification to at least one user to complete a manual task included in the at least one action included in the notification or a computer system to complete an automated task included in the at least one action included in the notification. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the application includes a user interface (UI) that displays data and receives multiple inputs; and wherein the notification includes a link to a portion of the user interface that is used to complete the at least one action; the method further comprising;
 receiving an input in the UI that completes the at least one action; and   transitioning the workflow model to a new state based on the input.   
     
     
         11 . A system for automating task workflows for integrating the workflows between a plurality of different applications to improve computational efficiency of managing and executing tasks, said system comprising:
 a repository configured to store a workflow model including multiple states and configuration data, the configuration data extracted from a plurality of different applications connected to the workflow model via a network interface, wherein the plurality of different applications comprise one or more in-product applications and one or more remote applications; and   a workflow automation system, executing on a processor and being configured to:   receive the workflow model from the repository coupled to the workflow automation system via the network interface, each of the multiple states included in the workflow model being associated with multiple triggers and including multiple actions;   automatically detect at least one of the multiple triggers of at least one of the multiple states of the workflow model based on a plurality of activities that occur in at least a subset of the plurality of different applications;   determine a particular state of the workflow model based on the at least one detected trigger;   distribute a notification according to a set of roles and permissions included in the configuration data, the notification including at least one action from the multiple actions;   receive a confirmation that the at least one action included in the notification is complete; and   transition the workflow model to a new state based on the confirmation.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the roles and permissions identify one or more users that are responsible for completing the multiple actions included in each workflow state, the workflow automation system further configured to:
 pre-configure the roles and permissions based on a related set of roles and permissions for the one or more users in an application.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the configuration data includes a set of application integrations; the workflow automation system further configured to:
 connect the workflow model to an audit application via the network interface based on the set of application integrations.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the workflow automation system is further configured to:
 calculate a performance metric for the workflow model that describes a measure of efficiency of performing a task using the workflow model relative to performing the task using an alternate method; and   distribute a report to one or more users through the audit application based on the roles and permissions, the report including the performance metric.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the workflow automation system is further configured to:
 confirm that the multiple actions in each of the multiple states of the workflow model are complete;   receive an output generated by the completed multiple actions; and   use the output to complete a business task.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the workflow automation system is further configured to:
 determine that at least one of the multiple actions of the multiple states of the workflow model is not confirmed as complete;   send a reminder notification including the incomplete action to a user responsible for completing the incomplete action; and   receive a confirmation from the user that the incomplete action is completed.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the workflow model is a document workflow model and the multiple actions included in the multiple states of the document workflow model include subtasks for completing a document. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the workflow model is an approval workflow model and the multiple actions included in the multiple states of the approval workflow model include subtasks for approving a decision or completed document. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the workflow automation system is further configured to distribute the notification to at least one of a user to complete a manual task included in the at least one action included in the notification or a computer system to complete an automated task included in the at least one action included in the notification. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the application includes a user interface (UI) that displays data and receives multiple inputs; and the notification includes a link to a portion of the user interface that is used to complete the at least one action;
 and wherein the workflow automation system is further configured to receive an input in the UI that completes the at least one action; and   transition the workflow model to a new state based on the input.